HSBC cashback offer

Money_Stitch

HSBC Fix.

In my case, account opened and partially funded 6th APRIL. TFA accepted in branch 16th April. Money is still with old provider who have heard nothing from HSBC. Multiple in-chat frustrating encounters and a couple of generic emails. Raised formal complaint via chat end of May.

Recently received a perplexing email with a case reference telling me to take it to the FOS as while they are still 'investigating', they are 'unable to resolve' my issue. No comp offered for consideration, no transfer initiated. I get the feeling they are trying to make me give up, which I likely would but I've already part funded it and I want consolidation, not lots of other accounts with differing maturity dates for this money.

I've sought advice if this means HSBC can just forget about the transfer, but it seems as they accepted the forms in branch and confirmed receipt in chat, they legally cannot, even if the often quoted '70 days funding window' passes. I intend to follow through now with the FOS as I'm raging about how HSBC have handled this.

Completely unacceptable for a high street bank and they need to be held accountable not only to me financially but with the FCA for their conduct with everyone.

gt94sss2

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82032582#Comment_82032582

Nationwide and Barclays are among those also experiencing issues at the moment according to other posts.

I would count the time since you submitted the transfer forms. For instance, if you opened the account 10 weeks ago, but only submitted the transfer forms after 2 weeks then your ISA transfer has actually taken 8 weeks to date.

The good news if there is any is that most will be applying for HSBC's one year fix so should not be expecting to access their funds.

SuzeQStan

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82032809#Comment_82032809

Hard to count not needing access to fixed rate funds as good news really - small consolation when you are staring down the barrel of losing hundreds of £ or more in interest due to their inability to cope with volume demand.

For myself, my OH and I assume most on this thread, the transfer request was made at the time of application for the HSBC FRISA. My OH transfer request was made over 2 months ago.

efunc

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82032809#Comment_82032809

Thanks. That is correct, opened on the 2nd April online, but the online application said they need to send me a paper tranfer form in the post to confirm the bank details. I waited almost 2 weeks for that form to arrive, so submitted on the 14th. HSBC claim that I then have to allow them 15 days to process. So in this way they effectively 'steal' a whole month of interest. I expacted the form in 2-3 days which seems reasonable, but 2 weeks?? In my view none of those delays are of my making, or necessary from my perspective, all of them are the responsibility of HSBC. I didn't design their online application form, their ISA processing team or fail to send out documentation promptly. Why should it be me that pays for their mismanagement?

A few days after opening this account I opened a Santander one, tranferred a 3-figure ISA and it appeared in that account about a week or so after, and I've already received the £400 cashback for that. It doesn't seem unreasonable to expect that level of service from a High Street bank, or ANY bank operating in the UK.

friolento

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82024790#Comment_82024790

They should have paid this into your ISA as it is ISA interest they owe you, and you are entitled to tax-free interest on this amount. Will you pick this up with them or is it not worth your while?

SuzeQStan

I think the reason they don’t do that is they don’t know if you have maxed out the current years ISA allowance - which does make sense so I understand that. I believe any missing interest should be attributed once it matures. At least that is the hope 😂

friolento

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82035589#Comment_82035589

i hope I am wrong but I don’t believe they will willingly pay all the interest that is due. They are banking on people not checking that they got the right amount of interest

Rich2808

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82035741#Comment_82035741

It depends how accurate you believe their record keeping is e.g. when were transfer requests received (re the 15 working days trigger especially when a paper transfer and if they recorded when your money was placed in their holding account as opposed to when it was paid into your actual ISA account.

We can worry about that in 12 months when the interest is paid. Next step (once transfers are completed!) is ensuring we all get our cashback due by 30 September!

1931modela

For those questioning whether interest will be backdated, this is HSBC's response to my second complaint regarding this.

"Thank you for your email and for sharing your concerns about the time taken to complete your ISA transfer.

ISA transfers are subject to regulatory timescales of up to 15 working days (depending on the type of ISA and the transfer method). You submitted your transfer request on 9 April and the funds were received on 27 April, which is within the regulatory timeframe.

HSBC pays interest from the date we receive the funds. In your case, interest will be applied from 27 April and will continue up to the maturity date, with the funds paid on the maturity date in line with the product terms.

Your existing provider is responsible for paying interest up to the point the funds leave their account. On that basis, there should be no loss of interest attributable to HSBC, as interest is paid by each provider for the period they hold the funds.

While the funds were received within the regulatory timescale, I appreciate it took longer for the balance to display in your account and for the completion text to be issued. This was due to internal processing delays after receipt of the funds.

We’ve already started an ISA interest rework exercise for customers affected by the ISA transfer delay, to ensure interest is applied correctly in line with the date funds were received.

Once the interest has been applied/updated, you’ll be able to check this via your account information/statement (or we can confirm the interest start date for you if you contact us and we review the account notes and interest calculation).

As previously advised, we’ve applied the £100 goodwill gesture in recognition of the delays in processing and communication, even though the funds were received within the regulatory transfer timeframe.

I appreciate you remain dissatisfied with the outcome and explanation. If you’d like to take this further, your next step is to refer your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). Details of how to do this are included in our final response letter, or we can resend them if needed."

efunc

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82037029#Comment_82037029

Thanks for posting that informative response. So the 'current' ISA holding bank will continue to pay interest until the funds have left them, but HSBC will still backdate interest to 15 working days (about 21 days) after your transfer request. That means many will benefit from an overlap of interest and potential compensation payment too.

This is probably satisfactory for the majority of those affected. In my case not quite though, since my ISA is langushing in a holding account earning just 1% interest and is a sum greater than £100k (over two and a half months now). Nonetheless, and despite all the frustrations, this is part-way to a settlement. Although I feel a full FOS complaint is in order.